The Final Mile: WC Kazan

You turn your back on RG for five minutes and a saga ensues while you're away. It's the end of the quad and the loons have come out. To start with, Kudry did NOT win the AA at WC Kazan, so her fandom was freaking out online and being super psychotic about her Olympic spot being in jeopardy. Immediately after the ceremony, some wonderful person started a rumor (which fans were only too eager to believe) that Rita was given one of the official spots for Rio because Viner thought she could be the Olympic champion. Yes, everyone loves Rita more than the icy and detached queen Yana, so it's no wonder people are willing to believe she can challenge for gold in Rio. At 2016 Euros, she led Yana after 3 events but then botched her last routine to throw away the title. She's done that before. I think mentally she's so used to being second best that when she's in the lead, it unleashes an entirely different set of nerves.

RG community whenever Kudry loses in AA

Yana's program is very dull this year so I would love for Rita to pull an upset, but realistically, she hasn't beaten Kudry since EF's at 2014 World's, so I doubt she'll suddenly develop the mental fortitude to do so [at the Olympics of all places]. As for that rumor, while Rita's Olympic berth is probable, Viner reassures us she is sticking to her plan of waiting until the Rio training camp to test the three girls. She will name two girls to the team on the 23rd but will take all three to Rio where she can change the team up to two days before competition. So Rita won the AA & Ribbon EF, but wait a minute, how did THIS score 19.200 when she travels so much in her turns:

Then, during the group 5 ribbons ceremony Viner snubbed Anastasia Bliznyuk and refused to shake hands with her after Bliznyuk made several mistakes that landed Russia in... 2nd place (HOW WILL THEY EVER RECOVER?) at their own World Cup. Russia does not like to lose the comps they host and word is Anastasia knew a snub was coming her way even before the ceremony because Viner refused to acknowledge her after they finished the routine. I always thought Bliznyuk was a poor choice for this team: her body elements are weak, she lacks control, and I never liked how the group dynamic functioned with her (she's always out of sync). Nonetheless, Viner comes off as extremely petty and unsupportive which we know she is. There's simply never an excuse to treat your athlete like that but we know how dispensable she thinks these girls are. 

If all this wasn't bad enough, Yana pulled out of ribbon final thanks to paranoia- this was where her ankle injury began a year ago and she was afraid it would happen again. Lol wut? I can respect the psychology behind competing but I've never been a person to have any deep sympathy for the superstitious so I admit to laughing (a lot) when I heard this. Okay, I do feel a bit sorry for her now that I'm writing this. I suppose it must be like returning to the scene of a crime for her. On a more serious note, poor Salome Pashava, of Georgia, was given a zero after her CD stopped playing her music. This upset many fans because Kudry was allowed to go again after her music stopped playing at 2013 Worlds; however, that was the last time such an occurrence could happen since the rules changed that very year. Salome seamlessly continued her routine and moved to the cheers of the admiring audience but eventually was told to dismount the stage. She went up twice more- each time more tired- and two more times did her CD have glitches and stop playing. After the third time she was given a zero. So you can't say they didn't try to work around the new rules, the judges clearly felt sorry enough for her to give her extra chances. Luckily this is all happening before Rio, so now she has time to fix the issue, whatever the cause of the issue is. Things have been tough for Salome lately, where she had to train in a gym without heat and had an injury before Euros. She's a fighter, though, and is planning to go all out in Rio for the hopes a bronze medal I would love to see her win. Good luck Pasha!

Alexandra Soldatova continues to undo the advantage she had earlier this season with another bronze medal behind Rita and Yana in AA. Her coach scares me and I can't imagine what their post-comp conversations are like. Sasha's program is my favorite because she brings the most originality & risk to her routines this year, but execution-wise she isn't as clean as Yana and isn't as consistent as Rita, someone she could definitely beat if she would stop making a thousand mistakes. Who do you have your heart set on for the Olympics?

We're in the final stretch, and these are our champion contenders!